Former NASCAR driver John Wes Townley was killed Saturday in the Athens Five Points Georgia area, according to a report from the Athens-Banner Herald.
According to the report, police responded to a shooting in the 200 block of Morton Avenue in the Five Points neighborhood just before 9 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 2.
Townley, 31, and an unidentified female had been shot and were transported to a local hospital. Townley later died of his injuries.
The male suspect, 32, was known to Townley and according to the Athens-Banner Herald, no charges have been filed against him at this time.
On Monday, police revealed more details about the incident.
Townley died from a gunshot wound to the chest, according to a spokesperson for the Athens-Clarke Police Department.
The Police Department also revealed that a divorce between Townley and his former wife Laura Townley had been finialized this past week. Townley arrived at 240 Morton Avenue in Athens, Ga. with a “hatchet” and seemed to confront his ex-wife and Zachary Anderson, 32, the suspect who were both inside the home.
At some point during the altercation, Anderson fired several shots from his firearm where John Wes and Laura Townley were struck. Laura Townley sustained serious injuries, but is expected to survive.
From 2008 to 2016, Townley competed in 186 NASCAR national touring series races, with the highlight of a fuel strategy NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory in 2015 at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway driving for his family-owned Athenian Motorsports team.
Overall, he had one win, five top-five and 24 top-10s – all in the Truck Series. He finished a career-high 13th in the Xfinity Series on three different occasions.
He also competed in 58 ARCA Menards Series races during that same tenure and won twice, both in the season-opening races at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in 2013 and 2016 respectively driving for Venturini Motorsports.
Townley’s father, Tony Townley, is the co-founder of Athens, Ga-based fast food chain Zaxbys.
Police confirmed the investigation into the shooting in ongoing but no charges have been filed against Anderson and he was not taken into custody. Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact Detective Black at (762) 400-7058 or at [email protected].
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
